By Jove, the natives are restless tonight.

The Avengers

4.17: Small Game for Big Hunters

I wonder if Death at Bargain Prices’ camping scene, suggestive of an exotic clime but based in a department store, was an inspiration for Small Game For Big Hunters’ more protracted excursion to the African country of Kalaya… in Hertfordshire. Gerry O’Hara, in his second of two episodes for the show again delivers on the atmosphere, making the most of Philip Levene’s teleplay.

Steed: Had a spot of bother with the natives. A full-blown savage, with a very unfriendly disposition.

Mrs Peel: Oh, come now, Steed.

It’s also an episode big on the colonial critique, not to mention innocently dipping into the conspiratorial waters of spreading diseases (and testing vaccines) in third world countries. The teaser is a particular good one, as a man (Peter Thomas), pursued through thick jungle, ends up with an arrow in his back, collapsing near a sign that reads “London 23 Miles”.

Mrs Peel investigates signs of a Kalayan tribal influence (the Shirenzai symbol, “a more dread form of voodoo”) while Steed gets personal, calling on Colonel Rawlings (Bill Fraser, General Grugger in Meglos), who lives inside a biodome-equivalent jungle.

Promoting suggestions of the supernatural is Professor Swain (Liam Redmond), whose misdirections (“He sleeps the sleep of the living dead. There’s no awakening him. Not by any means I have at my command”) mask his own dastardly doings, since he’s the ringleader of a plot to take back control of Kalaya by introducing tse tse flies carrying a strain of sleeping sickness that will render the whole country paralysed within a week.

Steed: He’s got a nice line in au pairs.

Trent: He’s got a whole tribe of them out there.

Swain’s supported by game hunter Simon Trent (James Villiers), given to making threatening allusions (“This time of day, if I see something moving, it’s all I can do to stop myself from shooting it”) and detaining Steed at the residence on account of the hazardous rivers during monsoon season.

Indulging the delusions of an eccentric becomes an increasingly common trope of the series, one we previously saw with Sir Horace Winslip in The Gravediggers. Colonel Rawlings is a Blimpish type withdrawn into his own oblivious world (“He couldn’t survive the winds of change, softened his brain. He still thinks he’s there”) while his assistants get up to no good under his nose.

Trent: Tomorrow we fly back to Kalaya, Steed. We’re going back. Back. And we’re taking this with us. Thousands of the little beasties, that’s all we need. And once they’re release in a climate like that…

Steed: They breed like flies?

Trent: Yes, like flies. They breed like flies.

Swain: The whole country will be paralysed in a week, and then we take over. A pretty plan, don’t you think?

Indeed, during the finale, while an alluring Emma arrives impersonating Lala (Esther Anderson) with a flower in her hair, the Colonel wanders around making irrelevant comments about a notional uprising (“Take them some coloured beads. Always seems to help”; “By Jove, the natives are restless tonight, A firm hand, that’s what’s needed. A firm hand”).

Not that the rest of it is exactly played straight, with Steed swinging in on a vine to Emma’s rescue (“Me Steed”; “Me Emma”) and putting paid to Trent after confidently telling him, in 007 fashion, “Mauser, single barrel. You’ve had your five”. Subsequently grappling with him, a further shot goes off (“My arithmetic is shocking!”) Villiers makes for a low key but effective villain, Redmond less so, meaning that some of his nefarious lines fall a bit flat (“All that work almost spoiled because of you. That arouses me to violence”).

Notable in the episode are two persons of colour, the aforementioned Anderson and Paul Danquah as Razafi, Kalayan Secret Service. The former has little in the way of dialogue, but the latter makes a strong impression when he reveals his undercover status to Steed. I hadn’t realised the series’ predominant absence of ethnic actors was intentional (“Clemens explains that the success of ‘THE AVENGERS’ is due to its element of fantasy. And all the taboos come under the heading of social realities…”) It’s a thin argument, particularly since it is broken on several occasions (more recently, Brian True-May tried out a similar line with Midsommer Murders).

Steed: I once shot a bull elephant myself.

Outfitter: Really? What did you use?

Steed: F8 at 500ths of a second, and a small roll of film.

Amusing interludes include Steed calling on Tropic Outfitters early on, precise in their knowledge (“My goodness, sir. This is a relic. One of our old mid-tropical five-button broad weaves”) and up with the sales patter (“No matter where you are, steaming jungle, burning bush or arid desert, we always get your order through”).

Mrs Peel: What’s missing?

Steed: Colonel Rawling’s file. Fortunately, he overlooked my cucumber sandwiches.

Mrs Peel: Oh, very good.

So too, after his altercation with a Kalayan native, Steed is sanguine about the damage done (above). There are some nice edits, notably Emma awaking from leafing through a book on tribal rituals and seeing a “real” tribesman. Steed plays what looks like an intense game of cards with the Colonel, only for it to be revealed as Snap! The laugh-off is merely so-so, however (Steed and Emma in a rowing boat, she telling him to start the other engine, he beginning to paddle in response).

Agree? Disagree? Mildly or vehemently? Let me know in the comments below.

Comments

If you never do anything, you never become anyone.

An Education (2009)
Carey Mulligan deserves all the attention she received for her central performance, and the depiction of the ‘60s is commendably subdued. I worried there was going to be a full-blown music montage sequence at the climax that undid all the good work, but thankfully it was fairly low key.

Alfred Molina and Olivia Williams are especially strong in the supporting roles, and it's fortunate for credibility’s sake that that Orlando Bloom had to drop out and Dominic Cooper replaced him.
***1/2

Do you read Sutter Cane?

In the Mouth of Madness (1994)
(SPOILERS) The concluding chapter of John Carpenter’s unofficial Apocalypse Trilogy (preceded by The Thing and Prince of Darkness) is also, sadly, his last great movie. Indeed, it stands apart in the qualitative wilderness that beset him during the ‘90s (not for want of output). Michael De Luca’s screenplay had been doing the rounds since the ‘80s, even turned down by Carpenter at one point, and it proves ideal fodder for the director, bringing out the best in him. Even cinematographer Gary K Kibbe seems inspired enough to rise to the occasion. It could do without the chugging rawk soundtrack, perhaps, but then, that was increasingly where Carpenter’s interests resided (as opposed to making decent movies).

Can you close off your feelings so you don’t get crippled by the moral ambiguity of your violent actions?

Spider-Man Worst to Best

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Captain Marvel (2019)
(SPOILERS) All superhero movies are formulaic to a greater or lesser degree. Mostly greater. The key to an actually great one – or just a pretty good one – is making that a virtue, rather than something you’re conscious of limiting the whole exercise. The irony of the last two stand-alone MCU pictures is that, while attempting to bring somewhat down-the-line progressive cachet to the series, they’ve delivered rather pedestrian results. Of course, that didn’t dim Black Panther’s cultural cachet (and what do I know, swathes of people also profess to loving it), and Captain Marvel has hit half a billion in its first few days – it seems that, unless you’re poor unloved Ant-Man, an easy $1bn is the new $700m for the MCU – but neither’s protagonist really made that all-important iconic impact.

She writes Twilight fan fiction.

Vampire Academy (2014)
My willingness to give writer Daniel Waters some slack on the grounds of early glories sometimes pays off (Sex and Death 101) and sometimes, as with this messy and indistinct Young Adult adaptation, it doesn’t. If Vampire Academy plods along as a less than innovative smart-mouthed Buffy rip-off that might be because, if you added vampires to Heathers, you would probably get something not so far from the world of Joss Whedon. Unfortunately inspiration is a low ebb throughout, not helped any by tepid direction from Daniel’s sometimes-reliable brother Mark and a couple of hopelessly plankish leads who do their best to dampen down any wit that occasionally attempts to surface.

I can only presume there’s a never-ending pile of Young Adult fiction poised for big screen failure, all of it comprising multi-novel storylines just begging for a moment in the Sun. Every time an adaptation crashes and burns (and the odds are that they will) another one rises, hydra-like, hoping…

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Stranger Things 3 (2019)
(SPOILERS) It’s very clear by this point that Stranger Things isn’t going to serve up any surprises. It’s operating according to a strict formula, one requiring the opening of the portal to the Upside Down every season and an attendant demagorgon derivative threat to leak through, only to be stymied at the last moment by our valorous team. It’s an ‘80s sequel cycle through and through, and if you’re happy with it functioning exclusively on that level, complete with a sometimes overpowering (over)dose of nostalgia references, this latest season will likely strike you as just the ticket.

I should have mailed it to the Marx Brothers.

Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (1989)
When your hero(es) ride off into the sunset at the end of a film, it’s usually a pretty clear indication that a line is being drawn under their adventures. Sure, rumours surfaced during the ‘90s of various prospective screenplays for a fourth outing for the whip-cracking archeologist. But I’m dubious anyone really expected it to happen. There seemed to be a natural finality to Last Crusade that made the announcement of his 2007 return nostalgically welcome but otherwise unwarranted. That it turned out so tepid merely seemed like confirmation of what we already knew; Indy’s time was past.

How can you have time when it clearly has you?

Dark Season 2
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Anna (2019)
(SPOILERS) I’m sure one could construe pertinent parallels between the various allegations and predilections that have surfaced at various points relating to Luc Besson, both over the years and very recently, and the subject matter of his movies, be it by way of a layered confessional or artistic “atonement” in the form of (often ingenue) women rising up against their abusers/employers. In the case of Anna, however, I just think he saw Atomic Blonde and got jealous. I’ll have me some of that, though Luc. Only, while he brought more than sufficient action to the table, he omitted two vital ingredients: strong lead casting and a kick-ass soundtrack.

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Spider-Man 3 (2007)
(SPOILERS) Spider-Man 3 is a mess. That much most can agree on that much. And I think few – Jonathan Ross being one of them – would claim it’s the best of the Raimi trilogy. But it’s also a movie that has taken an overly harsh beating. In some cases, this a consequence of negative reaction to its most inspired elements – it would be a similar story with Iron Man Three a few years later – and in others, it’s a reflection of an overstuffed narrative pudding – so much so that screenwriter Alvin Sargent considered splitting the movie into two. In respect of the latter, elements were forced on director Sam Raimi, and these cumulative disagreements would eventually lead him to exit the series (it would take another three years before his involvement in Spider-Man 4 officially ended). There’s a lot of chaff in the movie, but there’s also a lot of goodness here, always providing you aren’t gluten intolerant.

Now In Full Color, with a Happier Ending

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